


Scanned

by StonesFics



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Wholesome, brotherhood era, it's some wholesome content, no angst only wholesome fluff, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27635746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StonesFics/pseuds/StonesFics
Summary: "So, what does it mean?”“What does it mean?” Prompto repeated, gnawing at his bottom lip.“Yeah, like, does it scan for something special or something?”“Uhh,” Prompto fumbled, looking at the barcode on his wrist as if it held the answer. “I-I don’t know. I just got it because I thought it looked cool?”“Oh, that’s cool,” Noctis responded, nodding. “Have you tried scanning it?”Prompto shook his head.“Oh, we gotta scan it then.” He whipped out his phone and started tapping through it.“It probably won’t do anything,” Prompto said, trying to dissuade him. He honestly didn’t know what would happen if they tried scanning it but he didn’t want to find out.“We gotta try it, though!” Noctis insisted.
Relationships: Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 3
Kudos: 62





	Scanned

**Author's Note:**

> One day I'll post a FFXV fic that's not Prompto & Noctis centric but today is not that day. I just love these two idiots.

“What’s that?”

Noctis grabbed Prompto’s wrist, twisting it to get a better look.

Prompto yelped and wrenched his wrist away. “Nothing! It’s nothing!”

Noctis frowned, looking at him quizzically. “C’mon, you got a tattoo without telling me? At least lemme see it.”

Prompto held his wrist close to him, covering up the barcode with his hand. His heart pounded in chest and his ears, horror gripping him. All day he’d been so good about keeping the barcode hidden after he had realized he had forgotten to put his sweatband on after his morning shower. It’d been on his mind throughout school and kept his anxiety riding high but now that he was at Noctis’s apartment focussing on the game in front of him while Noct watched, he’d forgotten about the barcode. It’d been exposed and obvious even facing towards the Prince. How could he be so careless??

Now Noctis was going to find it weird and tell Ignis about it and then Ignis was going to tell someone higher up about it and then Cor would find out and think he was some sort of spy or something and they would ban him from seeing Noctis and maybe kick him out of Insomnia and he’d have to change his name and find somewhere to live outside of the city and- 

“Oi, Eos to Prom?”

Prompto was snapped back to reality by Noctis waving his hand in his face. He was looking at him in concern.

“You good, dude? I’m not actually upset you didn’t tell me, I get it’s not really legal. But I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

Prompto bit his lip and looked his friend up and down. He could trust him, right? He was his best friend. He promised he wouldn’t tell anyone. This should be fine, right?

He was gonna regret this but he held his wrist out. Noctis grabbed it gently and held it while he examined it. Then he let go and crossed his arms, pouting.

“It’s so cool that you have a tattoo already,” Noctis whined. “I want a tattoo but dad won’t let me get one. When I turn eighteen, I’m gonna get one regardless of what dad or Specs says. So, what does it mean?”

“What does it mean?” Prompto repeated, gnawing at his bottom lip.

“Yeah, like, does it scan for something special or something?”

“Uhh,” Prompto fumbled, looking at the barcode as if it held the answer. “I-I don’t know. I just got it because I thought it looked cool?”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Noctis responded, nodding. “Have you tried scanning it?”

Prompto shook his head.

“Oh, we gotta scan it then.” He whipped out his phone and started tapping through it.

“It probably won’t do anything,” Prompto said, trying to dissuade him. He honestly didn’t know what would happen if they tried scanning it but he didn’t want to find out.

“We gotta try it, though!” Noctis insisted. After another moment, he held out his hand for Prompto to surrender his wrist again. “I downloaded the Wall Market app to scan the barcode with. They have so much shit, it has to pop up. Now, I just gotta…” He positioned the phone over Prompto’s wrist and held it there. A second passed and he frowned at his phone and furrowed his eyebrows. “Bad picture, I guess. Let me try again.”

Prompto tried not to let his anxiety be obvious but every second the phone was held above his wrist the urge to yank it away became harder to resist. He really, really needed to hide that code again.

Finally Noctis released his wrist and tapped away on his phone for a second. Then he snorted. “Dude, seriously? You’ve gotta be joking.”

“What is it?” Prompto asked hesitantly.

Noct turned his phone around to show off a product page. “It sent me to a page for Sam’s Chocobo Feed. Are you sure that wasn’t intentional?”

Prompto gaped at the page. It was a page for a five pound bag of Sam’s Chocobo Feed and it cost 2,000 yen. That was… not at all what he expected. It was better than he had expected, but he just… didn’t know what to do with that.

“I guess you cost as much as a bag of chocobo feed,” Noctis joked, elbowing him in the side. “I know what to buy to bribe you to go to shitty state functions with me now.”

Prompto finally recovered from his bafflement enough to feel indignant. “Hey! I’m worth more than a five pounds of chocobo feed! I’m worth at least twenty!”

Noct laughed. “Got it, I’ll bookmark a twenty pound bag then. So, that’s why you wear that sweaty old band all the time?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Prompto said with a grimace. “Can’t really show it off. Just forgot it today.”

“Cool, I get it,” Noctis told him. Then he stared at Prompto’s wrist, the gears clearly turning in his head. It was unnerving but it didn’t last long before he was turning his attention back to the TV. “Now let’s get back to assassinating some asshole templars before Iggy gets home and forces us to do our homework.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Prompto picked back up the controller and forced his attention back onto the game. He was unsuccessful, though, for the most part. He robotically pressed the buttons and controlled the character, but his mind was still reeling. Someone had found out about his barcode and he wasn’t being hauled away to prison or being kicked out of the city. His parents had instilled in him an overwhelming fear of the barcode ever being found out by anybody so when Noctis had noticed he thought it was the end.

But he was still here. He and Noctis were still on the couch playing Assassin's Creed and everything was fine. Noct had promised he wouldn’t tell anybody and he trusted him to keep to that. And his barcode was for chocobo feed and that was just so weird but not something he would complain about. Everything was okay. 

“Dude, you’re running into a wall.”

“Oh, shit! Sorry!”

* * *

Two days later and Prompto had triple checked every day before leaving the house that he had his sweatband on. Noctis may have been cool about the tattoo, but Six knew that no one else would be and he couldn’t afford to slip up again. Next time it could be someone who was a little less cool with the idea of a teenager having a barcode tattoo’d on his wrist. 

He approached the school and found Noctis leaning against the entrance gate, bag in hand. He looked like he was about to fall asleep standing up, as usual.

“What’s up, sleepyhead?” Prompto greeted cheerfully. 

Noctis closed his eyes, head falling back against the wall, and he let out a groan. “Specs woke me up early again. Why can’t he just leave me to sleep?”

“Maybe if you weren’t up til 2am playing King’s Knight you could get up early,” Prompto teased. 

“Tch, I had a dungeon to finish,” Noctis shot back. “Oh, by the way, I have something for you.” He reached into his bag, digging around for a second. He pulled out a black box and handed it to Prompto. “Happy birthday.”

Prompto blinked at him but accepted the box. “It’s not my birthday, though?”

“Happy Starlight then.”

“But it’s March?”

“Yeah, well,” Noctis huffed, looking away abashedly, “it’s just a gift then. Late Starlight present.”

Prompto didn't mention the new camera Noctis had gotten him for the last Starlight Celebration and instead opened the box. His jaw dropped. “Is- is this?!”

Inside the box was a black leather wristband. It had two bands that went around and had silver and black studs and then smaller bands that wove through the middle of it. Picking it up, it felt durable and high quality. He couldn’t even imagine how much it cost.

“Du-dude!” Prompto exclaimed, holding the band like it was a sacred relic. “Dude! What?! Why??”

Noctis was still not looking at him but he could see the smile that he was fighting. “You’ve been wearing that green sweatband for, like, ever. It’s ratty and old, almost falling apart. Figured I’d give you something new to cover up that tattoo of yours. It’ll last a long time and it looks so much cooler.”

“Bro, I can’t accept this,” Prompto told him. “This has to be worth, like, double what I have in my bank account!”

“I told you it’s a gift,” Noctis reiterated. He suddenly looked a little sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. “You don’t have to accept it if you don’t like it.”

“No, I do like it!” Prompto insisted. “Seriously, it’s super cool. It’s just, like, so nice. Way too nice for me. I’m gonna lose it!”

“You didn’t lose that green sweatband, I doubt you’ll lose this. Just put it on and see if you like it.”

Prompto sighed but obliged, slipping the green sweatband off of his wrist and exposing his tattoo. He fumbled with the leather cuff and Noctis helped him get it buckled and in place. Examining it, he decided that, yeah, it was way too super cool and much more stylish than the old sweatband. It didn’t completely cover the barcode but it covered it enough that no one would ever see it anyways. It was firm so it wouldn’t move around but also not tight. 

“I really like it,” Prompto told him finally. “Thanks, man.”

Noctis gave him a small smile. “No prob. Now, come on, we’re gonna be late for homeroom.”

“Can’t be late for your nap!”

“You got that right.”

The two grabbed their things and jogged to the front of the school. Throughout the day, Prompto admired the new cuff around his wrist. The barcode was awful and he wished that he had never been given it, but Noctis had been cool about it and even helpful. He couldn’t wish for a better friend. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wonder what that first failed attempt at scanning the barcode was about? Probably nothing, right? :thinking emoji:  
> Thank you all for reading! If you enjoyed what you read, please leave a kudos/ comment! Also check out my other fics!


End file.
